Nora Seed is thirty-five, living in Bedford, England, and convinced she has failed at everything. She quit a promising swimming career, walked out of a band that might have made it, cancelled her wedding and has just lost her job and her cat. One night, overwhelmed by despair, she decides she does not want to go on.
She finds herself in a vast library that exists between life and death, watched over by Mrs Elm, the kindly librarian from her old school. Every book on the shelves holds a version of her life that might have happened had she made a different choice. Nora can step into any of them: Olympic swimmer, rock star, glaciologist in the Arctic, wife and mother, and test whether those lives would have made her happy.
Haig, who has written openly about his own depression, uses a high-concept premise to explore regret, mental health and the value of an ordinary life. The tone is gentle and accessible, with short chapters and a philosophical bent touching on quantum ideas of many worlds. It became a major bestseller and won the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction in 2020.
Book details
| Author | Matt Haig |
|---|---|
| First published | 2020 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Type | Fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 288 |
| Setting | Bedford, England, and a library between life and death |
| Awards | Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction 2020 |
Themes
- Regret
- Depression
- Choice
- Parallel lives
- Hope
Who should read it
Readers who like uplifting, idea-driven fiction about second chances and mental health.
If you liked this, try
- Life After Life
- The Alchemist
- Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine